Best Treatment for Traumatized Kids

When children and teens have been traumatized, typical therapies often include art or play therapy, drug intervention, and/or psychological debriefing. Yet, new research failed to find support for these efforts. Instead, the study suggests that group or individual cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is most effective.

The Centers for Disease Control issued a press release on the findings. They report, in part:

Mental Health organizations have estimated that more than 75 percent of U.S. mental health professionals who treat children and teens with post traumatic stress disorder are using therapies that are not known to be effective.

“The good news is there is substantial research showing the effectiveness of group or individual cognitive behavioral therapy in treating children and teens experiencing the psychological effects of trauma. We hope these findings will encourage clinicians to use the therapies that are shown to be effective,” said Robert Hahn, PhD, MPH, coordinating scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Community Guide Branch and an author of the Task Force report.

This technique has also proven useful in many cases of anxiety, mood disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome.

See the site for The Children’s Center for OCD and Anxiety, founded and directed by author Tamar Chansky, PhD, here.